you said that existing LMDE XFCE installs will just keep "rolling along." I run LMDE XFCE on my netbook because it gives me a good combination of ease of use and battery life. What should I change my sources.list file to to just keep rolling (opposed to update packs)? Should I make those changes now?

you said that existing LMDE XFCE installs will just keep "rolling along." I run LMDE XFCE on my netbook because it gives me a good combination of ease of use and battery life. What should I change my sources.list file to to just keep rolling (opposed to update packs)? Should I make those changes now?

Thanks,

Matt

Hi Matt

Sorry, been away.. Schoelje gave you the answer...With my old senile memory, I don't really pay any attention about Update Packs. I installed the original LMDE's and they were tracking "testing" as default then. I never changed to the Mint Update Pack Repos, and actually upgraded from Debian Testing repos to Debian SID. In my opinion, its less trouble (though you should upgrade almost daily, and keep an eye on the LMDE "Breakages" threads), to keep a 'rolling' distro, rather than the UP 'semi rolling" concept. Its been a good 6 months with daily updates and no problems in SID. Even less with Testing.The Mint Update Packs get tested, (and really a great but small bunch of testers,) but there is such a great assortment of end user hardware out there, and so many different configurations that folks have, that things slip past. I feel its easier to fix a little problem now and then, then perhaps several bigger ones with an UP.

Other folks think different, but it works very well for me...

If you update to UP6 and all goes well, now would be a real good time to change repos to "testing", as Schoelje has show above. There will not be the huge number of updates that would occur before the UP (bet there are several hundred in UP6)..

I haven't installed xfce 4.10 from experimental, but I have installed from the siduction repos, and it works fine (I use it on all of my installs). Here are some good instructions for using that repo: http://crunchbang.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=21324. It works very well, and it has most/all of the plugins.

Schoelje wrote:Just a few things left to decide (concerning packages) for which I'm looking an alternative:

"Users and Groups" is part of gnome-system-tools which does install a bunch of gnome dependencies

Keep mintinstall (Software Manager)?

Keep mintupdate-debian (Update Manager)?

I don't know about users and groups - I haven't found a good alternative. As for mint install and mint update, I think mint update is important for update packs (it gives you the details about the next update pack, assuming you use the latest repo). Mint install is actually fairly light compared to the deepin software center and the Ubuntu one, but it is slow compared to synaptic. I guess for me I'll go with mint update yes (if we're using update packs) and mint install no. I'm typing from a phone right now, but once I get computer/Internet access, I'll start looking at alternatives. I forget what SolusOS uses, but IIRC they are fairly light.

Thanks for your replies. I'm going to make the change tonight to my source.list file.

Schoelje, I am quite interested in your "unofficial LMDE XFCE" project. I'll be monitoring it's progress. I'm also interested in Swift Linux which seems to be of the same idea. You asked about the Mint Update Manager and Software Manager. For instilling programs, I prefer Synaptic Package Manager because of it's speed and will use the terminal to run update/upgrade.

Regarding parole vs vlc.When I used Salix-xfce4.10, its has default parole. It is snappy.

When I play media over network file ( I have another computer on networking running Debian-xfce as NAS storing many media files for network sharing), Parole seems to be more snappy than VLC in term of time to start playing. But here is one issue: Parole does not play SOME of the mp4 file,, it does not start, I have not pursue the issue because I have VLC too, while VLC open file with a little longer waiting time, it plays EVERY media files I have.

Since I am on it, I decided to install parole on linuxBBQ and would just do a simple check later comparing parole/vlc playing various media files on data partition as well as pulling over from network.... will update later..

quick testing:vlc, play everything, both local data partition as well as over network shares.parole, does not play many files over network, no reported error but not playing.on local media files, errors, gstreamer not installed,

This is just quick test. not attempting to resolve with gstreamer....so I would be happy to stay with vlc.

I don't really have any opinions in either direction, but I would still like to ask those of you who discuss wether or not they should be included:

Is it not the intention of this thread to take the frist steps towards creating a XFCE-based community edition of Linux Mint Debian Edition? And if that is the case - wouldn't part of the idea with a CE be to try to keep to the Mint eco-system as far as possible?- Otherwise it would only be just another distro, wouldn't it?

Does "Unofficial" LMDE/XFCE want to be aimed at typical end user (who may want things as simple as possible), or the more 'experimental' user, who likes to tinker? I am guessing that most of us responding to this thread tend to be more 'experimental'.Its easier for the 'experimental' bunch to remove stuff they dont want or use, than for the 'casual user' to muddle though a less inclusive distro.

I think most of the Mint stuff should be included, but from a personal (selfish ) point of view I would like it 'lean, mean and cutting edge'. Its easy enough to take LMDE and change sources, delete stuff not used, et.

I snuck in a mention of "Clicompanion"above because its invaluable to me. First thing I install on a new distro. Over the past two years I have collected dozens of terminal commands that I use often. I am too damn old and senile to remember them.. I am not asking for it to be included, BUT...

Is it the design, the tools that have been decided upon, the tools they created?Is it the community, the quality we expect from Linux Mint?I think it's all of the above, and more.

That doesn't stop me thinking about it and question the decisions that has been made.Progress stops, when you stop asking.

That's why, now that we're talking about a detail like the chosen tools, I want your opinion.It is clear that Update Manager and Software Manager are very valueable tools, and I think they would be even a very good choice on other distributions then Linux Mint. I just want to hear it from you.

Here are some more tools where I question their value.I don't use them, and I can't even think of a good reason why others would, but I'd like to hear if I'm wrong:

On the what makes Mint point, I think it is primarily the Mint-specific tools such as Update Manager and Mint Software Center, as well as the removal of a few items from the base distro that are deemed superfluous.

I agree with you on the three items you listed. In 3-1/2 years of using Mint, I've never used one of those tools.

Schoelje wrote:............Here are some more tools where I question their value.I don't use them, and I can't even think of a good reason why others would, but I'd like to hear if I'm wrong:

Backup Tool

Domain Blocker

Upload Manager

May be a coincidence, but I never used any of those as well.For backups, I always clone with Clonezilla. Its never failed in two years and returns your OS to exactly where it was at time of last clone, and its fast.First time use can be a little intimidating, but do it a second time, and its a breeze.http://clonezilla.org/show-live-doc-con ... disk_image

What I try to get clear is: what makes Linux Mint, Linux Mint?

Is it the design, the tools that have been decided upon, the tools they created?Is it the community, the quality we expect from Linux Mint?I think it's all of the above, and more.

To me, its the community,and the quality. This forum is invaluable for support, and Mint always releases a good product. It was my first Linux OS, and after having tried dozens of others still my main (and as of late- ONLY) distro. It has a nice balance of included apps, without being to heavy, or too bare. Easy to install.